You never think your kid's going to get diagnosed with brain cancer.
- Tanya, Jack's Mum
When Jack began vomiting every day, it was obvious something was wrong. But never in their wildest dreams did his parents imagine that a brain tumour was the cause.

Pre-diagnosis
Before he got sick, eight-year-old Jack was living a busy and active life in Sydney’s Inner West. With mum, Tanya, and dad, Andrew, both working full-time, family life was hectic but not without its fun.
‘We loved going to the park and going for walks,’ says Tanya. ‘Jack had been playing club soccer for about a year and a half, and his sister Lily was doing dance, so there was always sport on the weekends.’

Symptoms
It was Halloween 2023, and Jack had been busy that night ‘trick or treat-ing’. When he got home, he wasn’t interested in eating any of his lollies — something his parents thought most unusual.
When he woke up the next morning and vomited, they figured he’d caught something. Three days later, it was still going on.
‘I thought it was a bit strange, but I assumed he had a vomiting bug,’ recalls Tanya. ‘You never think it’s anything more sinister. Why would you, right?’
A few days later, Tanya and Andrew decided to take Jack to hospital to get checked out.

At the hospital
At the local hospital, Jack was given blood and urine tests, then sent home when the results came up clear.
Another week went past, and with Jack still vomiting it was back to the hospital again. This time he was kept in overnight then seen by a paediatrician, who suggested he see a gastroenterologist.
Before that could happen, though, Jack again ended up at hospital, this time at Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick.
‘Jack was still vomiting and we didn’t quite know what to do,’ shares Tanya. ‘Everyone was saying, “Just take him to Randwick; you‘ll get answers there.” So I took him there about eight o’clock one night.’
He said, ‘I’ve reviewed the scans and there’s a lesion on your son's brain.’
- Tanya, Jack's Mum

However, Jack wasn't admitted here either. Instead, they were advised to take him back to Canterbury Hospital.
‘At this point, we were getting really frustrated,’ she says. ‘It was now four weeks of vomiting every day. We’re like, what do we do? This is ridiculous.’
Tanya took Jack to see a paediatric gastroenterologist and booked him in for a gastroscopy, and also arranged an MRI just in case. As soon as the MRI scan was done, the nurse told Tanya the doctor was on the phone and that he needed to talk to her.
‘He said, “I’ve reviewed the scans and there’s a lesion on your son's brain. You need to go straight to Randwick.”

Diagnosis
At Sydney Children’s Hospital, Jack was admitted straight away and put on the neurology ward. Within 24 hours, he had been seen by a neurosurgeon and had another MRI. Then the oncology team met with Tanya and Andrew.
Tanya admits to not having much medical knowledge, and says it took a while to work out what was going on.
‘I’ve not had anyone in my family that has had cancer. I didn’t know that a brain lesion can be a brain tumour, and I didn’t know that a brain tumour can mean brain cancer. I even had to Google what oncology was, just to make sure.’
When asked to sign up to the Zero Childhood Cancer Program (ZERO), Tanya says she was thinking, ‘Our kid doesn’t have cancer; what are you talking about?’

Surgery
Within two days, Jack was having brain surgery. And while the operation went well, his post-surgery recovery proved challenging.
‘You’re walking into the intensive care unit, with the sickest kids, and I think that was when the severity of it hit me,’ shares Tanya.
Jack was wearing nothing except a nappy, with a catheter and all these cannulas everywhere. He had black blood stains coming down the back of his head and yellow anaesthetic all over him.’
I don’t know how we got through that week. It was the week from hell.
- Tanya, Jack's Mum
When Jack opened his eyes the first time, they were looking in different directions. He also began swearing like a sailor, never having sworn before.
Another problem emerged over time, with Jack refusing to move his head even a fraction. The nurses became increasingly worried about bedsores, and eventually were forced to shift him, causing huge distress.
Tanya, who describes her son as quiet, sensitive and ‘an old soul’, says it was a lot to deal with. ‘I don’t know how we got through that week. It was the week from hell.’


Treatment
At this stage, Tanya says they didn‘t know anything other than that it was a brain tumour, and Christmas holidays meant a longer wait for the results of testing. Eventually, they were called to a meeting at the hospital.
Here they were told the tumour was a cancer called medulloblastoma, and Jack needed radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
When the results of Jack’s tumour analysis from the Zero Childhood Cancer Program (ZERO) came through, they learnt the cancer was a very aggressive subtype which was growing quickly. Jack was now classified as high risk, meaning he was to be given the most intensive treatment.
You just think, God, you’re putting this actual poison in our little children.
- Tanya, Jack's Mum
In the first week of January, six weeks of daily radiation began. Tanya says it was very challenging, but Jack dealt with it like ‘a champion’. Side effects included hair loss and lethargy, and all the while, the daily vomiting continued.
Then it was time for chemotherapy.
‘He had three types of chemo at the highest dose possible’, says Tanya, who says it was quite confronting to hear words such as ‘obliterated’ and 'blasted’ used to describe the harsh protocol Jack was on.
‘You just think, God, you’re putting this actual poison in our little children.’


Side Effects
Because of side effects such as vomiting and diarrhoea, together with fevers and infections, Jack spent far more time than anticipated in hospital.
‘The worst moment was around cycle two or three,’ says Tanya. ‘He just burst into tears and said, “I don’t want to go back; I want to stay with my family.” It really wore him down.’
Tanya says one of the hardest things for her was trying to calm Jack when he had one of his ‘episodes’, which sometimes happened when he stayed overnight in hospital. In a state of half sleep, he would jump out of bed screaming and filled with rage.
‘I think it was the trauma of it all, coming out in some sort of weird dream state,’ shares Tanya. ‘Being in hospital just became harder and harder.’
He burst into tears and said, ‘I don’t want to go back; I want to stay with my family.’
- Tanya, Jack's Mum
Treatment ends
Eventually, Jack’s treatment ended. However, he had been left with a multitude of treatment-related side effects. These include hearing loss, double vision, extreme fatigue, balance and coordination issues, and extensive muscle aches.
‘This is life now,’ Tanya says. ‘There are so many things ... but at least he’s still here.’
‘The scariest part is that it has a 40% chance of coming back. I just think it’s too high, but there’s nothing that we can do except hope and pray.’

There’s nothing that we can do except hope and pray.
- Tanya, Jack's Mum

‘If the worst does happen and there’s a relapse, well, that changes everything for us again. Treatment options are very slim.’
Asked about childhood cancer research, Tanya says the progress that has been made to date is ‘amazing.’
‘Without that research, we’re not going to get anywhere. We just need to get more funding to make sure it doesn’t ever stop, because kids like Jack are getting diagnosed every day.
I’m turning our family’s pain into purpose, by doing everything I can to ensure the Children’s Cancer Institute is able to continue doing their vitally important research until no child’s life is severely impacted, or lost, to cancer'.
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